This guide will provide you a walkthrough of the test-taking experience using the ABS testing interface for Surgery SmartBanks.
Header
Within the header of the ABS interface, you will see your name and a timer (if using timed mode) in the left-hand corner. You can select the “eye” iconnext to the timer to hide it. The test, quiz, or assessment name and details on which question you are currently on are in the center of the header. On the right-hand side is the question navigation drop-down and the Previous and Next buttons to navigate between questions. Along the bottom of the header are the Question Tools.
Question Tools
Help
You can select the Help button to open a modal that explains the ABS interface and some key features. This same modal is available in the ABS exams.
Pause
You can use the Pause button for self-created tests and faculty-assigned quizzes with pausing enabled.
Review
The Review button opens up a test overview page, which is detailed below.
Mark
Residents can mark questions using the Mark button in the toolbar. Marked questions may be used within the assignment for questions you want to come back to before submitting. Marked questions can also be used to indicate questions you may want to refer back to after completing a test using the Notes section of the platform. You can also use this feature to filter questions when creating a future test to just include previously Marked questions.
Feedback
If there are comments or feedback that residents would like to share with the TrueLearn team about a specific question, the Feedback tool allows users to indicate a feedback type and provide more information about the comment or concern. These are regularly reviewed by our content teams. The Feedback form opens in the right-hand side panel.
Notes
Via the Notes button in the toolbar, residents can add their own comments to a question for future reference. These are text only and can be up to 2000 characters. The Notes form opens in the right-hand side panel and notes added on previous question attempts or saves are hidden by default but can be shown and edited. It is important to note, that this is NOT functionality on the actual ABS exam, but is available in TrueLearn to help you with your studies.
Change Interface
Selecting the Change Interface button allows the user to switch to the custom TrueLearn interface for testing. Learn more about this interface here.
Highlight
Residents can highlight within the question body or explanation by dragging their cursor over text and releasing. Clicking anywhere in the highlighted text will remove the highlight.
Strikethrough
Residents can strikethrough an answer option that they want to eliminate by right-clicking anywhere on the answer. Right-click again to remove.
Review Screen
When the user selects the Review button from the Question Toolbar OR selects Next when on the last question on a test, they are brought to the Review screen. The Review Screen provides an overview of the test and shows the question status for each question and allows you to filter the test questions to just see the unanswered or marked questions before submitting.
Click on one of the buttons to filter, or one of the questions in the table to jump to that specific question.
You can also select End to submit the test.
Tutor Mode
Show Explanation
Residents who want to review questions as they answer them can take advantage of Tutor Mode. This displays a ‘Show Explanation’ button for each question that opens the answer and explanation for a question once selected. Once the explanation is displayed, the answer choice can no longer be changed, even if it was originally left blank. The user is prompted with this information when they select Show Explanation.
The explanation opens in the right-hand side panel. It includes information about the right and wrong answers, a bottom line (key takeaway) with the ability to copy it into Notes, additional references, as well as information on what topic and category the question belongs to. Residents can highlight within the explanation as well.
Performance
Once the explanation is displayed, the resident can also see information on how other students performed on the question, including the distribution of answer selections nationwide and the total % of residents that answered a question correctly. This performance data differs slightly depending on the question type.
Rating
Once an explanation is displayed, the resident can rate the question – thumbs up or thumbs down. This provides additional data to our content teams about what questions residents find most helpful.
